Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel News Europe
Business Travel News Europe
  • NEWSOpen Menu
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
  • FEATURESOpen Menu
    • View All Features
  • CONVERSATIONSOpen Menu
    • Interviews and Q&As
    • Guest columns
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
  • RESOURCESOpen Menu
    • Powered Up: The travel tech of today & tomorrow
    • The Future of Meetings
    • Smart Money: Cards, payments & expenses
    • The Journey Towards Sustainable Business Travel
    • Safety Measures: Risk, duty of care & wellbeing
    • Stepping It Up: Small & midsized travel programmes
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in business travel
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • New Horizons: The 2022 sourcing guide
    • The 2022 Hotlist
    • Wheels in Motion
  • EVENTSOpen Menu
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Intelligence Summit Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Entertainment Travel Summit
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • Sustainable Business Travel Summit Europe
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSOpen Menu
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
  • FEATURESOpen Menu
    • View All Features
  • CONVERSATIONSOpen Menu
    • Interviews and Q&As
    • Guest columns
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
  • RESOURCESOpen Menu
    • Powered Up: The travel tech of today & tomorrow
    • The Future of Meetings
    • Smart Money: Cards, payments & expenses
    • The Journey Towards Sustainable Business Travel
    • Safety Measures: Risk, duty of care & wellbeing
    • Stepping It Up: Small & midsized travel programmes
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in business travel
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • New Horizons: The 2022 sourcing guide
    • The 2022 Hotlist
    • Wheels in Motion
  • EVENTSOpen Menu
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Intelligence Summit Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Entertainment Travel Summit
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • Sustainable Business Travel Summit Europe
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
  • SUBSCRIBE
Business Travel News Europe
  • Business Travel News Europe on Twitter
  • BTN Europe on LinkedIn
  • BTN Europe on Facebook
  • NEWS
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
    SubscribeBTN Europe NewsletterBTN Europe Magazine
  • FEATURES
    • View All Features
    2023 Hotlist BTN EuropeThe 2023 Hotlist
    Shanghai ChinaThe great reopening of China?
    Europe from spaceA European tour

  • CONVERSATIONS
    • Interviews and Q&As
    • Guest columns
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
    David DuffyHow the EU has fixed ESG
    Helen HodgkinsonLet payments shine a light on your environmental impact
    John Sturino, vice president of product and technology, EgenciaWhy business travellers need more control over their trips
  • RESOURCES
    • Powered Up: The travel tech of today & tomorrow
    • The Future of Meetings
    • Smart Money: Cards, payments & expenses
    • The Journey Towards Sustainable Business Travel
    • Safety Measures: Risk, duty of care & wellbeing
    • Stepping It Up: Small & midsized travel programmes
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in business travel
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • New Horizons: The 2022 sourcing guide
    • The 2022 Hotlist
    • Wheels in Motion
    Tools & ResourcesEurope's Leading TMCs 2022Booking tools – the essential guideCorporate Travel Index EuropeTravel entry requirementsBTN Europe podcastsBTSE Kick Off - CEO InterviewsRecent issues of BTN Europe
  • EVENTS
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Intelligence Summit Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Entertainment Travel Summit
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • Sustainable Business Travel Summit Europe
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
    Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off

    Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off, 23 February,

    7th Annual Global Travel Risk Summit Europe

    Global Travel Risk Summit Europe, May 2023,

    Sustainable Business Travel Summit Europe

    3rd Annual Sustainable Business Travel Summit

  • SUBSCRIBE

Columnists

Westminster Watch: Repaying the North’s votes

By Gareth Morgan / 28 January 2020
Share

The new government is likely to invest in infrastructure – on the condition there’s enough cash left after Brexit

The strategy worked. The Conservative Party secured a decisive majority in Parliament and their opponents are in tatters. With 365 seats, Johnson has the biggest Tory majority since 1987. The Labour Party registered its worst result since 1935 and is now deep in a fight over its future direction.

The Conservatives managed to do so by pulling off an historic realignment of the political map. They made significant inroads into Labour heartlands and the “red wall” that stretched from north Wales to the north-east of England has partially crumbled. These are former industrial areas where the Tory brand is still problematic, but many constituencies for the first time returned Conservative MPs. The Conservative HQ belief that the Brexit cultural divide would trump traditional party loyalties was proven to be correct.

Attention is now firmly on what the prime minister is going to do with that majority and how he can make the political realignment a permanent fixture.

It is always worthwhile on the back of an election to pay attention to the first speeches and to re-read the party manifesto to get a sense of the priorities in office.

The first speech was in Sedgefield, the former seat of Tony Blair and a bastion of Labour’s north-east heartland. That speech recognised the unique nature of the 2019 election and promised to repay the trust that these communities had put in his party by investing in their region. His refrain was that talent is spread evenly throughout the country but opportunity is not – he will address that with significant investment to “level up” the UK.


Javid should have up to £25 billion to spend per annum on infrastructure


The Conservative Manifesto was designed to not trip up their candidates (unlike in 2017) and so was light on detail, but it is still a useful guide. The section on “A Transport Revolution” contains 16 bullet points with only one about aviation (and that asserts no additional public money will go to Heathrow) with the rest focused on connecting cities, predominantly those in the North and Midlands regions.

In theory, chancellor Sajid Javid will enable this through loosening the fiscal rules slightly to give more flexibility. Borrowing for “day-to-day spending” is not on the menu but investment in infrastructure is. Javid should have up to £25 billion to spend per annum on infrastructure (so about £100 million over the Parliament) and a good chunk of that needs to match the prime minister’s rhetoric.

Big-ticket projects We should expect Northern Powerhouse Rail connecting Manchester and Leeds to get the go-ahead and for the Midland Hub rail project to also be progressed. These are the big-ticket infrastructure projects that Johnson favours (think mooted bridges to Northern Ireland or France and even the Boris Island scheme of old) and on which he can hang a narrative. These investments matter even more this time because his ability to hold his new Conservative territory will hinge on a sense of it having led to material benefits for those communities.

But what happens if the fiscal headroom disappears (many predict Brexit will see a drop in tax income)? That is when this new generation of Conservative MPs will need to make its presence felt.

There are suggestions that the new MPs are forming a group within Parliament to coordinate and work as a bloc. The future of the North when it comes to investment may well depend on them putting aside their fandom of Johnson (to whom, in fairness, they owe their position) and being prepared to pressure him when the time comes.

More Columnists
Related
David DuffyHow the EU has fixed ESG
Helen HodgkinsonLet payments shine a light on your environmental impact
John Sturino, vice president of product and technology, EgenciaPower to the people: why business travellers need more control

SPONSORED CONTENT

The workplace has changed. Does your travel & expense match up?
The workplace has changed. Does your travel & expense match up?By Cytric by Amadeus

Does your travel & expense match up?... KEEP READING

The eight trends shaping ground transportation
The eight trends shaping ground transportationBy Enterprise National

Eight emerging ground transportation priorities shaping business travel in 2022 and beyond... KEEP READING

More Columnists

How the EU has fixed ESG
How the EU has fixed ESG
Let payments shine a light on your environmental impact
Let payments shine a light on your environmental impact
Power to the people: why business travellers need more control
Power to the people: why business travellers need more control
How digital payments are driving efficiencies in corporate travel
How digital payments are driving efficiencies in corporate travel

VIEW ALL
  • Most Read
  • Most Shared
  1. Amex GBT adopts ‘segment-driven model’ as Geall takes SME role
  2. Eurostar Group aims to double traffic as new brand launches
  3. Air France launches new business class cabin on long-haul routes
  4. The great reopening of China?
  5. Gray Dawes acquires Australian TMC to start global expansion
  1. Brexit challenges pile up for UK-EU business travel
  2. Netherlands government appoints business travel partners
  3. European hotel bookings approaching pre-Covid levels
  4. TouristMobile adds Torsten Kriedt to leadership roster
  5. Countries agree goal of achieving net zero for aviation by 2050
Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel News Europe
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • EDITORIAL CALENDAR
  • Business Travel Show Europe
  • Business Travel News Europe on Twitter
  • BTN Europe on LinkedIn
  • BTN Europe on Facebook
BUSINESS TRAVEL NEWS EUROPE
NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP
Business Travel News
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Editorial calendar
  • Editorial guidelines
  • Subscribe to BTN Europe
  • Subscribe to BTN U.S.
  • Subscribe to Travel Procurement
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & conditions
Northstar Travel Group
  • Corporate travel
  • Business Travel Show
  • Business Travel Awards
  • BTN U.S.
  • The Beat
  • Travel Procurement

  • Travel Technology
  • Travel Tech Show
  • Phocuswire
  • Phocuswright
  • Intelliguide
  • Meetings & incentives
  • M&IT
  • AMI
  • ConventionSource
  • M&IT Awards

  • Retail travel
  • Travel Weekly
  • Travel Pulse

  • Northstar Travel Group
  • View all Northstar brands
BTNGroup
Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel NewsTravel ProcurementThe BeatBusiness Travel Show Europe
Northstar Travel Group
Copyright ©2022, Northstar Travel Media Ltd, The Epworth, 25 City Road, London EC1Y 1AA, UK
RRManagement rrtestprocurement